Differentiated Instruction: Finding Successful Pathways for All Students

Differentiated Instruction: Finding Successful Pathways for All Students

Howard Gardner states “The biggest mistake of the past centuries in teaching has been to treat all children as if they were variants of the same individual and thus to feel justified in teaching them the same subjects in the same way.” In today’s educational settings, the student population is highly individualistic and widely diverse in its abilities, needs and backgrounds yet the mastery of the same learning standards are expected of all of these learners. Research tells us that not all children learn in the same manner or in the same time span. When high stakes testing is being instituted across the state, we must realize that we have to rectify this century old mistake and implement differentiated instruction to help find successful pathways for All students. This course helps students understand the diverse needs of learners in their classroom and provides strategies and techniques to meet their various styles, readiness levels and interests.

Goals:

to develop an understanding of the nature and purpose of differentiated instruction

to review current brain research to more clearly understand how students learn best

to utilize the backward design process as a model for creating differentiated curriculum

to design and implement multiple approaches to content, process and assessment to help all learners be successful